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In recent years, the iPhone setup process has changed as dramatically as the iPhones themselves. Apple just keeps making it easier to do. So easy, in fact, that there are just a few things you need to do to move from your old iPhone to a new one. And setting up a new iPhone XS from scratch isn’t much harder — gone are the days of manually copying passwords just to get to the home screen.

There are still a few tricks, though, that will help things to run smoothly. Let’s see how to upgrade to the iPhone XS.

There are almost 2 million apps available on iOS today, and yet in 2018, 10 years after the App Store opened its doors, developers continue to deliver new and unique titles that blow us away.

We’ve rounded up the very best from the past year right here. We have terrific text editors, fantastic photography apps, amazing utilities, and lots more.

A number of Chinese companies are reportedly boycotting Apple as a show of support for Huawei Technologies.

The Chinese Huawei brand overtook Apple in smartphone shipments this year. Recently, its chief financial officer was arrested in Canada for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions by doing business in Iran.

Christmas time means packing up your daily troubles, forgetting work for a week, and heading home to … troubleshoot your parents’ broken computers and gadgets? Oh man, is it that time of year again already?

That’s the problem with being the family’s only geek — you get handed all the geek jobs. However, you can turn this to your advantage, and make it a lot easier, by going in prepared. Check out our Holiday Troubleshooting Guide right here.

“Hey Siri, 30-minute timer!” you shout across the kitchen, elbows deep in turkey gizzards. Only Siri isn’t interested. It’s already running that one-hour timer for the roast potatoes. Why would anybody want to run multiple timers at the same time? Silly human.

Thankfully, Shortcuts is here to save your bacon (and your Brussel’s sprouts, sage-and-onion stuffing, and so on). If you’re feeling fancy, you could even set this up to use with Siri, but today we’ll keep it simple. So, no matter how complex your Christmas Day cooking arrangement, Shortcuts will let you know when your goose is cooked.

Apple has promoted John Giannandrea to its executive team as senior vice president of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

Giannandrea, who joined Apple back in April of this year after eight years at Google, is responsible for Siri and the Core ML framework. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is “fortune to have John … driving our efforts in this critical area.”

Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines to allow the gifting of in-app purchases.

Shoppers have long been able to gift apps and games, but Apple’s rules previously prohibited the purchase of in-app items for others. You probably won’t be able to gift in-app purchases in time for the holidays, however.

Okay, so most people aren’t silly enough to throw down their hard-earned money on a new iPad Pro, only to snap it in half like that infamous YouTube video which did the rounds recently.

But some users have noticed that their new iPads are actually shipping with a slight bend in the aluminum chassis, which is therefore present before the device has even been used.

Don’t worry, Apple says. That’s totally normal, and nothing to worry about.

Got a new Apple Pencil? Then you should change these two settings as soon as you’ve snapped it onto the side of your iPad Pro and experienced its satisfyingly solid magnetic click.

Apple has busted out one more beta update for developers to play with before the end of 2018 with the first build of iOS 12.1.3.

The new iOS 12.1.3 beta 1 update comes just days after Apple released iOS 12.1.2 to the public as a way to fix patent claims by Qualcomm in China. Along with the new iOS beta, there are also new beta updates for macOS Mojave and tvOS.

Mark Rober already served the citizens of planet Earth by helping build the Curiosity rover currently roaming Mars. Now add holiday hero to his engineering credentials.

The ex-NASA engineer designed a series of revenge-bait packages that looked like HomePods — but showered unsuspecting thieves with glitter and deadly doses of fart spray.

The iOS music scene is stronger than ever, and 2018 saw some pretty awesome apps, from the simple MIDI keyboard app KB-1, to an Nanostudio 2, an entire Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) app that took its English programming team 6years to build. And that’s just the beginning. Lets check out the best iOS music apps of 2018.

It’s Christmas season, and you know what that means: Extra-long queues at airport check-in and “security;” once-a-year travelers who won’t just get out of the plane’s aisle and just sit the hell down; and of course parents/kids/friends who insist that you never emailed them the details of your flight.

We can’t fix the queues, the morons who mill in the aisles, or your lying friends and family, but I can show you how to quickly track a flight right from the Messages app, or anywhere else you see a flight number written down on your iPhone. Let’s take a look.

On the hunt for a great tech-related book to bury yourself in this winter? Fortunately, 2018 turned out to be a great year for the written word.

Here are our choices for the best of the best.

In part one of this series, we saw how to record remote podcasts using only iOS. It requires using your iPhone to place the FaceTime or Skype call, but you end up with a great result. That post covered the setup. Today, we’ll see how the recording and editing parts work, using AUM and Ferrite on the iPad.

Did you know that Gmail has more than 1.5 billion users? For a large portion of those users, email is something they must deal with on a regular basis — whether for work-related matters, personal communication or staying updated on the latest deals at their favorite retailers. Staying on top of your email can be a major pain, and even with all the smarts that Gmail offers, once you fall behind, it’s daunting to catch up.

Kiwi helps add a layer of convenience and intelligence to managing your Gmail and G Suite accounts on your Mac or Windows PC, all while offering the familiarity and comfort of Google’s mail platform.

We know what you’re thinking, “Another Instagram giveaway already?!” The answer is, “Shh, yes we do love our readers and followers that much.”

In fact, we appreciate you all so much, this is round we’re giving away three extra special treats from Spigen, Silk, and Casemate with a total value of $80. Each iPhone XS Max case is both aesthetically and sturdily impressive.

Our Instagram giveaway only lasts this week from December 17, 2018 – December 24, 2018, so check out the details below ASAP.

Apple Pay and electronic IDs are removing the need for a wallet, but why wait? Try a Dodocase that holds your phone as well as your drivers license, credit cards, etc.

We went hands on with three of this company’s leather iPhone wallet cases so we can report how they stand up to real-world use.

If you’ve ever considered breaking into an Apple Store with a U-Haul truck, don’t bother: it won’t work.

A couple of guys tried it in Berkeley, California last night and got away with exactly no Apple merchandise.

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang have scored a new contract with Apple.

The iPhone-maker has reportedly struck a deal with DHX Media that will give Apple exclusive access to new Peanuts content, including TV shows and other original programming.

Amazon’s Alexa speakers can finally connect to your Apple Music account.

Support for Apple Music on the Amazon Echo was rolled out today, giving iPhone and iPad owners the option to pump out their favorite jams without signing up for an Apple Music competitor like Spotify Premium.

Getting the new Apple Music integration up and running is ridiculously easy, but we’ll walk you through the entire process.

You lock your house, right? And your car? It’s equally important to lock your data with a secure password. But year after year people insist on using the same easily-guessed passcodes.

The list of “Worst Passwords of 2018” is out, and if your favorite is on there you really need to change it to something more secure.

Even amid the three-quarters of a million residents of Winnipeg, Canada, Rocky Bergen felt alone when it came to his love of vintage computers.

But thanks to his papercraft models of classic machines like the Apple II, Bergen has connected with folks in places as far away as Italy and Sweden.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is one of the more reliable Apple watchers out there. And he doesn’t have good news for the company.

In his latest note to clients, Kuo slashes his estimate on the number of iPhones Apple is likely to sell in the coming months. Compared to the 50 million iPhones Apple sold in Q1 2018, Kuo thinks the company will sell just 38 to 42 million units.

This week on The CultCast: It’s all our favorite gadgets of 2018! Well, not all, but lots of them. We didn’t have time to get through them all but we tried real hard. Plus: Apple is finally gearing up to overhaul the AMD GPUs in the Mac lineup. And the legit way to purchase a base iMac Pro for just $3,900.

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